Wheels on the Bus

 Wheels on the Bus Theme Set-up

Book & Song: The Wheels on the Bus by James Dean

There's something about Friday that makes me want to welcome the weekend so soon! So I settled with simple worksheets and play. I printed out a 4-piece puzzle from Royal Baloo, as well as the rest of her Bus worksheets!

 4-piece puzzles at this moment are confusing... but we can always try!

 Then we tried lacing again. Lia has become more interested and more or less has a concept of what she should do- great news!

 It doesn't matter if she puts it in the wrong hole... oops!

 or I can make it jiggle, Mama!

 We colored the bus with dot markers...

 Then I gave her felt cutouts that she can form into a bus! She needed Mama's assistance.

 This is how our felt cutout looks like, I might be making a Quiet Book soon out of these if I have the time!

 Then we pushed the bus back and forth while singing the Wheels on the Bus song...

 Fun, fun, fun!

This closes our Bb week! I have a list of the themes for Cc week and have chosen which ones I will be doing. For sure, it's going to be fun-packed!

Button Crafts and Activities

B is for BUTTONS Activity Set-Up

Book & Song: Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons

We started the day tracing the Bb worksheet with playdough, so I can finish making our button snake. I showed Lia how to trace the letter and she followed suit... only it's Lia's way! Whatever makes her busy, I thought. 

That was the only part that was perfect... she immediately squished the dough and tear them into tiny pieces... silly girl!

Then I gave her the letter B is for button activity. She is to decorate the letter with buttons, according to how she likes.

Designing is serious business!

The living room was silent while we were both busy, so I played the Buttons song from Pete the Cat. I love that the song is actually what was written in the book. It's about Pete the Cat and his four buttons that rolled away. Lia stopped for a while...and then, she stood up and started grooving to the music! The beat was contagious, I started singing along too!

 {wasn't able to capture better pictures while we both were into the music}

Lia asked me to play the song a few more times and she started singing along the familiar lines!

After we both were settled, I introduced the button snake activity where Lia would get these felt squares into the strip using the button ends.

We got the first one in...

 and Little Ms. Independent wanted to do it by herself!

 she says: "My turn, my turn, my turn!"

She clapped and exclaimed, "yay!" when we were finally done!

Fall Week Sensory & Fine/Gross Motor Play

My little girl is turning two in ten days and I am trying to balance doing activities with her, finalizing our plans for her birthday, and resting in between. She is currently nursing a minor cold but she was in a playful mood today, so I made a quick plan to come up with activities that relates to Fall Week. Today we read the book "You are My Little Pumpkin Pie" by Amy Sklansky.

 Then we made pumpkins and a pie with homemade playdough! As always, I get to make them and Lia loves to squish them!

Playdough is something very familiar in our home, so Lia's attention to it was not too long. I asked her if she wanted a surprise... and the answer was yes!

So I took out an empty bin and started filling it with water and few drops of red and yellow food coloring. Then I added some plastic fall leaves and some apples and a pumpkin:

 How about water play? Yes, please!

Then I added a tong and droppers she can use to take out the leaves and play with the water...

 "Catch you! Catch you!" Lia shrieked in excitement!

 She finds it funny!

 She took out all the leaves...

and the apples using this tong!

Droppers are fun too! It's her first time to use them.

Squiiiirrrrt!

Few minutes after and she's bored,  an idea popped! How about a balancing act? Lia loves balancing play with her Daddy so this was a great idea.

Materials: plastic spoon and plastic apples

I showed her how to do it and she gets frustrated that she can't do it. Then, I suggested that she look up and she did it!

 Holding it in...

 ...for 16 seconds!

 How about I stand up, Mama?

Super Fun!!!

Then we read the book "Little Red's Autumn Adventure" by Sarah Ferguson and took a nap!

Balloons!

 B is for Balloons!

Book: Where do Balloons Go? An Uplifting Mystery

Song: Happy Birthday Song because it's Mama's Birthday!

This has got to be one of the best activities I have done with Lia. She instantly got excited when she saw me filling some balloons with air, she couldn't stop asking me for it! When it was time to sit to do our activities, I showed her how to press the balloon on paint, and onto the paper. She immediately insisted that it was her turn! I tried to do hand over hand first, so she gets the concept. So we created a balloon picture, though not as perfect as I've imagined.

 Look at that face that's so eager to be independent!

Then she wanted to do freestyle finger painting...

creating little balloons on paper too!

 It was also another opportunity for Fine Motor Activity: we love these Learning Resources Fine Motor Tool to move our "balloons" {pompoms} from one bowl to the other!

 How about a little help from the other hand?!

 We also tried with scissor scoopers and they were better!

 Now here is the best part...dumping them all!

In my previous post, I have mentioned about Gross Motor Play that's an important part of growing up. I can't let Lia sit in all day watching TV and become a couch potato. So after doing some pinterest research, I found out about Balloon Tennis. What is it? Glue a popsicle stick onto a paper plate, get some balloons, and you're all set!

Ready to serve!

 Oops! 

 That was too funny, Mama!

One more time!

We had this activity even when we were done with the theme. Lia had so much fun, she couldn't stop giggling, shrieking in excitement everytime she is able to hit the balloon!